Various wire fence installation apparatuses and methods exist to assist in stringing fencing material to enclose farm land and ranches. These apparatuses range from a simple pole inserted through a roll, ball or spool of fencing material to facilitate unwinding fencing along a line of fence posts, to conveyed fence dispensing devices capable of simultaneously dispensing stranded or woven wire fencing from multiple rolls, balls or spools of fencing carried by the dispenser. A typical apparatus of the latter type includes a fencing support frame attached to a conveyance which is typically a tractor. The frame generally includes one or more upstanding, rotating spindles, each spindle supporting a roll or ball of fencing. The fencing is guided as it pays-out from the support frame to cause the payed-out fencing to comport generally with the intended fence post attachment arrangement. Various means are provided for stretching the payed-out portions of wire fencing prior to attaching the fencing to the fence posts including come-alongs and mechanical clamps that allow the wire fencing to be stretched by moving the conveyance. The stretched wire fencing is then attached, under tension, to the fence posts.
As used herein the term "wire fencing" is used to describe fencing material comprising only wire, or substantially wire. These materials are included in two broad categories: stranded fencing and woven wire fencing. Examples of fencing of the stranded category include stranded barbed wire and single strand wire fencing. Single stranded electric fence wiring is a common type of single strand wire fencing. Stranded fencing is most commonly supplied supported on a central supporting spool or wound in a ball without a central supporting spool.
The second category of fencing material, woven wire fencing, includes bonded field fencing which is characterized by generally rectangular openings Formed by crossed, orthogonally disposed wire strands, welded, or otherwise mechanically bonded, at the points of intersection of the wire strands. Other examples of woven wire fencing include common chicken wire fencing and chain link fencing. Woven wire fencing is typically supplied in rolls without a central spool or tube former. The central aperture of wire fencing rolls, spools and balls is typically about four inches or greater. Individual spools, rolls and balls of wire fencing are often referred to, generally, as fencing wire units.
The wire fencing dispensing devices currently available tend to be mechanically complicated and difficult to operate. For example, it is often desirable to simultaneously string a complement of courses of wire fencing including stranded wire fencing, barbed wire for example, and a course of woven wire fencing. Although there are wire fencing dispensers available that allow the simultaneous stringing of stranded and woven wire fencing, these dispensers tend to be difficult to operate owing to their complicated design and the many adjustments necessary for their use. The prior art devices are typically multi-spindled devices where each spindle carries a single wire fencing unit and, consequently, has associated with each spindle, an anti-backlash and tensioning arrangement to insure controlled payout of the wire as the dispenser is moved along a line of fence posts. These prior art devices also tend to be prohibitively expensive to many who install wire fencing. In addition, the complement of stranded and woven wire fencing capable of being dispensed is either fixed or is difficult to alter with the prior art devices. Therefore, the change-over from one complement of wire fencing to another complement of wire fencing is very time consuming and cumbersome.
Accordingly, there is a need for a wire fencing dispensing and installation device that is relatively inexpensive, easy to use and allows the user to quickly and easily adapt the dispenser for use to dispense and install various complements and arrangements of stranded and woven wire fencing.